Chip G

OK, I'll narrow this. The research I've done points to coilovers being a good place to start in improving the S4 suspension. The car will be a daily driver/commuter, so full-on kidney pounding is not acceptable, however, I would like as much control as possible for open track events.

The 3 coilover setups I've seen any information are:

Intrax - lots of ride-height problems
H&R - good dual-purpose setup
Vortrag/Koni - raciest

So, is the Vortrag the best track setup? If so, how livable is it with full soft settings on the daily commute?

What other things should I look for as far as suspension? Does the 19mm rollbar really help things? I generally prefer to tune with a stiff chassis and springs, as rollbars reduce grip, but is the balance so off that a stiffer rollbar helps on the track?

Thanks for any HELPFUL input.

WYSIWYG

probably <a href="http://www.champion-motors.com/Racing/audicar.cfm">these guys </a>has the raciest setup. theyre a well respected team in these parts so i guess, they have the most trackable setup for your new car. about daily driving, I wouldnt even like my A4 to be my daily driver ... and thats only the koni sports/neuspeed race setup.

swaybars: "necessity is the mother of all inventions"(something like that). drive it(or someone else's car), lacks very sharp, slow turning ability - then you might need a bigger swaybar. does it help me? in some cases yes but i'm getting some unpredictable effects/driver inputs from it - i guess you can say that it has a learning curve

Chip G

for actually posting something in response this time.

I checked out their site - the racecar looks great, but they only list H&R coilovers in their parts section. Do they sell the racier bits they use on the competition car?

WYSIWYG

rumor has it that you can only get it from this one place

Chip G

Has or hasn't anybody purchased and used the parts?

PWR

Votrag should be able to help you with a custom setup if you prefer. Otherwise you're looking at off the shelf setups. H&R springs seems to be a bit firmer than Eibachs (I haven't been able to find out the spring rates for any of these or other setups). Koni, Neuspeed & Bilstein also offer products.

I've been looking at changing the suspension on my car for sometime and my first choice would be the Votrag (Hypercoil springs & custom valved konis) based on some of the past responses, the crowd that use them (mostly competition types/non-posing crowd), the quality of the products and the reputation of the dealer. However, they're not cheap.

Cheers

Chip G

Thanks for the info...

WYSIWYG

I was told you can get them thru groups like champion. give them a call

kkemp

Another coilover possibility is KW. From what I've read they are a bit more adjustable than the H&Rs but are also not quite as aggressive in terms of lowering and stiffenss. They are also more expensive.

I'm haveing them installed on my A6 this weekend, not a really fair comparison with the S4, but I'll post my impressions later anyway.<ul><li><a href="http://www.hpamotorsport.com/">KW coilovers at HPA</a></li></ul>

Chip G

Thanks for the lead, I hadn't heard of these.